


full of life

by astralpenguin



Category: Death Note & Related Fandoms, Death Note (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/F, Feelings Realization, Fluff, Hair Brushing, I think this counts as fluff anyway, Implied Relationships, Pre-Relationship, Rem Does Misa's Hair, can be read as platonic i guess, personally i don't but the author is dead and all
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-27
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-19 02:55:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29743917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astralpenguin/pseuds/astralpenguin
Summary: “Is everything alright?” asked Rem.Misa sighed. “No,” she said. “My hair’s being mean to me.”
Relationships: Amane Misa/Rem
Comments: 6
Kudos: 20





	full of life

**Author's Note:**

> twin ponytails are hard to make look good when you're doing them on your own >:(
> 
> also have some headcanons about why rem gave misa the death note kjsdfdkjfg

As a Shinigami bound to a human, it was impossible for Rem to not get in that human’s way.

There wasn’t anything she could do about it. Misa could see her, and see how she interacted with the world around her. There was a limit to how far from Misa Rem could go. And Rem was much larger than any human. She took up a lot of space. Humans that didn’t know that she was there were unbothered by her presence, but Misa _did_ know that she was there, and that she would _always_ be there, for the rest of Misa’s very long life.

Even making the deal trading half of Misa’s lifespan for the eyes of a Shinigami hadn’t changed the fact that Misa would, if Rem didn’t kill her sooner, be living for far longer than any human should.

Gelus had had centuries left.

Rem stood in the middle of Misa’s bedroom, under strict orders not to touch anything after having accidentally sent a stack of magazines tumbling to the ground. Misa stood in front of a full-length mirror, running a brush through her hair, her back to Rem. She could still see Rem through the mirror, but with her back turned she was, in effect, totally defenseless.

Not that Rem had any intention of hurting her. Not that Shinigami were allowed to hurt humans in any way other than with their notebooks in the first place.

Rem had seen for herself what happened to those that fell afoul of the rules. Shinigami were not permitted to use their notebooks with the intention to save lives. Gelus had turned to dust for his trouble, and the girl he’d saved had lost all hope of an ordinary life. Even if she’d never caught the attention of another Shinigami ever again, the length of her life would have brought with it its own unnatural misery. Humans simply weren’t designed to live that long. Rem wasn’t an expert on humanity, but even she knew that much.

She also knew that the only reason why Misa was still alive was because Rem had gifted her Gelus’ notebook immediately after claiming it for herself.

If another Shinigami had been allowed to notice Misa’s extended lifespan then Misa would not still be alive now.

Rem knew what her brethren were like. They disliked putting effort into what was technically their jobs, even despite their jobs being the only way to extend their own lives. The opportunity to claim so many more years for themselves with only one name would have been too good for any of them to pass up.

No Shinigami was allowed to kill a human that was haunted by another Shinigami. The only Shinigami that was allowed to kill a human that was haunted by a Shinigami was the Shinigami doing the haunting.

By handing Misa Gelus’ notebook, she had claimed Misa for herself, and wrecked her chances of leading a normal life. She had also given her the chance of living any life at all.

Gelus had been her friend, and he’d died for this girl. This was the least that Rem could do.

A loud grunt of frustration broke Rem from her thoughts.

Misa was still looking in her mirror, and was still clutching her hairbrush, though the grip she was using looked tighter now than it had before. The hair on one side of her head was collected together in a small black band, and the hair on the other side of her head was loose. She clutched another small black band in her other hand. Her expression in the mirror was murderous.

“Is everything alright?” asked Rem.

Misa sighed. “No,” she said. “My hair’s being mean to me.” She reached up and pulled out the black band that was holding half of her hair up, letting that half of hair loose. “I’m trying to put it in twin ponytails and I can’t get it even! I’ve tried like three times, it keeps not working!”

Rem drifted closer. “Surely it isn’t difficult?”

Misa spun around and glared. “That’s the _point!_ It’s _not,_ but knowing that isn’t making it any easier!” She began brushing her hair again, almost absent mindedly.

“This is important to you?” asked Rem.

Misa shrugged. “Kinda, yeah.” She turned back to face the mirror. “I just wanted to look cute today. I guess it’s not that important.”

Rem drifted forwards until she was close enough to touch. Misa looked at her through the mirror, gradually slowing her brushing motions to a stop.

“Allow me to help?”

Misa hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

Rem gently took the hair brush and black bands from Misa and started to brush Misa’s hair.

She’d never done this before. She’d never needed to brush her own hair. She wasn’t sure if what came out of her head could even be accurately described as hair, but if it could then Rem hadn’t ever cared for it. But she’d seen enough of humanity, and of Misa specifically, to know how brushing hair worked. At least, she hoped that she had.

Misa was tense at first, like she was unsure whether or not she was comfortable, and was readying herself to run at a moment’s notice. Rem supposed that she couldn’t blame her for that. Humans were predisposed to be distrustful of anything they regarded as monstrous, and Rem certainly counted for that. Misa had allowed Rem access to her head. Rem had already assured Misa that she wasn’t allowed to cause her any physical harm, that she didn’t _want_ to cause her any physical harm, but knowing something wasn’t the same thing as believing it.

But, after Rem had spent a few minutes just brushing Misa’s hair, Misa relaxed.

“This is nice,” she said.

“Yes,” said Rem. “It is.”

Rem went to part Misa’s hair, but the moment she did Misa’s hair lost the feeling of it having just been brushed through.

There had to be a way to avoid that.

Rem set the brush down on the floor and ran her claws through Misa’s hair instead.

It worked a lot better than the brush had, allowing Rem to feel for herself where any catches or tangles were and gently tease them out.

Misa’s hair was silky and smooth.

There wasn’t much in the way of pleasant textures in the Shinigami Realm. Everything there was jagged rocks and gritty sand and more dust than could be imagined. Misa’s hair was everything that the Shinigami Realm wasn’t, and Rem didn’t want to stop touching it.

Misa pushed her head back into Rem’s hold, just slightly, ever so gently. Rem brushed the trips of her claws against Misa’s scalp.

Misa shivered.

Rem remembered what she was supposed to be doing.

She parted Misa’s hair down the middle and collected each half in a black band, leaving it in two perfectly identical twin ponytails.

“There,” she said, moving out of Misa’s personal space.

Misa spun around and flung her arms around Rem’s middle.

“Thank you!” she said. “It looks wonderful! Can you do my hair everyday?”

“If you like.”

Misa pulled away and beamed, her eyes sparkling with joy. “I do like! You’re the best!” She went to her desk and grabbed her diary, a small pink notebook that she used to keep track of her schedule, and flipped it open to today. “I don’t have anywhere I need to be until this afternoon, so I’m free for a while. Oh! I know!” She looked back at Rem. “I want cookies. Let’s make some cookies!” She didn’t wait for a response, instead just running from the room and down the stairs to the kitchen.

Rem followed at a much more sedate pace.

Before, when Gelus had still been alive, Rem hadn’t understood what was so special about Misa. She was one of many, many humans. She hadn’t been anything special. Even her relatively early death date hadn’t made her any more unique. All humans died. Many of them died young.

On that last day, Rem had finally asked Gelus _why._ His response had been anything but convincing, saying simply that she was full of life.

Rem found that response a lot more convincing now.

Misa _was_ full of life. She was full of life, and love, and excitement, and ambition, and hopes, and dreams, and every time she shared even a little of that with Rem the world got brighter.

Rem had used to think that Gelus was a fool, and that her being here with Misa was out of respect to her dead friend and nothing more.

She still thought that Gelus was a fool.

She thought that maybe she was a fool as well.

**Author's Note:**

> comments and kudos mean so so much !!!!
> 
> come say [hi!!](https://astralpenguin.tumblr.com/)


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